How do I have healthy gut naturally?

Written by Paris Kazemian

All food is ultimately broken down in the gut to a simple form that can enter the bloodstream and be delivered as nutrients throughout our bodies. This is only possible with a healthy digestive system. A healthy gut contains healthy bacteria and immune cells that ward off infectious agents like bacteria, viruses, and fungi. A healthy gut also communicates with the brain through nerves and hormones, which helps maintain general health and well-being. So gut health is really important for us

Gut and brain connection

Both the gut and the brain are extremely complex organs that are linked by neurons that transmit information back and forth. According to research, the brain receives information from the gut more frequently than it transmits it. The Vagus nerve, which sends information from the gut to the brain such as nausea, bloating, constipation, and satiety signals, may also deliver messages that affect mood, behaviour, and brain development. There are lots of evidence suggesting how poor gut health play role in developing diseases.

Helpful germs

Your body has a large number of bacteria. In fact, there are more of them than there are cells in your body. The majority of them are beneficial to your health. The ones in your gut not only aid in digestion, but they also work throughout your body and can benefit your physical and emotional health.

Gut microbiome

This is the home base for the bacteria in your digestive tract. Here, they help you break down food and turn nutrients into things your body can use. They help keep your “bad” bacteria in check. They multiply so often that the unhealthy kind doesn’t have space to grow. When you have a healthy balance of bacteria in your gut, it’s called equilibrium.

Studies have found that if you have too much of a certain kind of bad bacteria in your gut microbiome, you’re more likely to have:

1- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a group of disorders that cause chronic inflammation (pain and swelling) in the intestines. IBD includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Both types affect the digestive system

• Crohn’s disease: Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It causes inflammation of your digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, and malnutrition. Inflammation caused by Crohn’s disease can involve different areas of the digestive tract in different people.

• Ulcerative colitis: Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in which abnormal reactions of the immune system cause inflammation and ulcers on the inner lining of your large intestine. Ulcerative colitis can develop at any age, but the disease is more likely to develop in people between the ages of 15 and 30.

• Microscopic colitis: Microscopic colitis is an inflammation of the large intestine (colon) that causes persistent watery diarrhea. The disorder gets its name from the fact that it’s necessary to examine colon tissue under a microscope to identify it, since the tissue may appear normal with a colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy.

2- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder that affects the large intestine. Signs and symptoms include cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea or constipation, or both. IBS is a chronic condition that you’ll need to manage long-term. Only a small number of people with IBS have severe signs and symptoms. Some people can control their symptoms by managing diet, lifestyle, and stress. More-severe symptoms can be treated with medication and counseling.

• IBS-C: One of the most typical kinds of IBS is “IBS with constipation”, or IBS-C. With this type of IBS, you’ll experience fewer bowel movements overall, and you may sometimes strain to go when you do have them. IBS-C can also cause abdominal pain that accompanies gas and bloating.

• IBS-D: IBS-D is also known as IBS with diarrhea. This type of IBS causes the opposite issues as IBS-C. If you have IBS-D, you could have both more frequent desires to use the restroom and stomach pain. Having too much gas is also typical.

• IBS-M: Some people have another type called IBS with mixed bowel habits. Your stools will be both firm and watery on days when you don’t have regular bowel movements if you have this type of IBS.

What’s the difference between IBD and IBS?

IBD is a condition, whereas IBS is a syndrome or collection of symptoms. There are several reasons and treatments.
Functional gastrointestinal disorders include IBS. The bowels operate differently, as a result, contracting more frequently (or occasionally less frequently) than usual. IBS is sometimes referred to as an uneasy stomach or a spastic colon.
IBS doesn’t cause intestinal inflammation or damage as IBD does, so imaging scans can’t pick it up, and it doesn’t raise the risk of colon cancer. IBS sufferers seldom ever require hospitalisation or surgery.

Gut bacteria and your heart

Some kinds of gut bacteria may be part of the link cholesterol has to heart disease. When you eat foods like red meat or eggs, those bacteria make a chemical that your liver turns into something called TMAO (Trimethylamine-N-oxide). TMAO may help cholesterol build up in your blood vessels. Researchers are studying a natural substance called DMB that’s in olive and grapeseed oil. They think it might keep your bacteria from making TMAO.

Gut bacteria and your kidneys

Too much TMAO also may lead to chronic kidney disease. People who have the disease don’t get rid of TMAO as they should. That surplus can lead to heart disease. Researchers think it’s possible that too much TMAO might make you more likely to have chronic kidney disease in the first place.

Gut bacteria and your brain

Your brain sends messages all over your body. Researchers believe your gut may talk back. Studies show that the balance of bacteria in the gut microbiome may affect your emotions and the way your brain processes information from your senses, like sights, sounds, flavors, or textures.
Scientists suspect that changes in that balance may play a role in conditions like autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, and depression, as well as chronic pain.

How the gut bacteria have effect on obesity?

An unhealthy balance in your gut microbiome may cause crossed signals from your brain when it comes to feeling hungry or full. Researchers think there may be a link to the pituitary gland, which makes hormones that help set your appetite. That gland can affect the balance of bacteria in your gut, too.

How the gut intestinal microbiome can affect mental health?

How the intestinal microbiota influences mental health?

Every human has a very unique microbiome made up of a couple of trillions or more bacteria that play an important role in immune system function and other physiological activities. If there is microbial dysfunction in the gut harmful bacteria can trigger an inflammatory cascade and release chemicals that have direct effects on the brain.

Beneficial bacteria, or probiotics, have been found to lower inflammation in the body and may also have anti-anxiety and anti-depressant effects. Many factors influence an individual’s gut flora, including stress level, sleep quality, food intake, delivery mode, and so on. There is no “one size fits all” strategy for probiotic supplementation due to the very variable structure of each individual microbiome.

Can I change my gut bacteria?

You get your gut microbiome at birth, and the world around you affects it as you grow up. It’s also influenced by what you eat. That’s why it can be different depending on where you live — and why you may be able to tilt the balance a bit.

What can we do for ourselves?

The good news is that we may improve our gut health by making everyday food decisions. Here are three easy ways to improve your gut health:

1- Eat more whole foods: Include a range of colorful fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, all of which produce fiber to nourish your gut’s beneficial probiotic bacteria. Artificial substances, additives, and preservatives should be avoided in your diet because they can harm your gut health.

2- Eat more fermented foods: Fermented foods such as kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, tempeh, and fermented vegetables include good bacteria that can help strengthen gut health.

3- Only use antibiotics when absolutely necessary: Antibiotics kill both beneficial and bad bacteria in the gut. Antibiotic resistance can develop as a result of overuse, making harmful germs more likely to survive. Antibiotics should only be used when medically necessary.

Gut-friendly foods

The term “gut-friendly foods” can mean a lot of different things. Let’s look at gut-friendly foods from the perspective of nourishing your gut by consuming foods that either introduce healthy bacteria or nourish your gut by providing a fuel source for those healthy bacteria.

Healthy bacteria, often known as probiotics, inhabit your gut and play an important role in gut health, digestion, and immune system function. Healthy bacteria populations in the gut can be disrupted, resulting in a cascade of severe health implications.

So It is important to take probiotic-containing foods on a regular basis to maintain a healthy population of probiotic bacteria in the gut.

• Yogurt
• Kefir
• Traditional buttermilk
• Pickles
• Sauerkraut
• Tempeh
• Kimchi
• Miso
• Kombucha
• Natto
• Some types of cheese

Also, prebiotic foods provide a good source of fructo-oligosaccharides or galacto-oligosaccharides. These starches are a type of fiber that pass through the intestines undigested, stimulating the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut! They also have been shown to help reduce inflammation, improve mineral absorption, and improve blood sugar control just to name a few advantages.

• Garlic
• Onions
• Bananas
• Apple
• Oats
• Barley
• Cocoa

Conclusion

If you have been diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or notice that you get excessive bloating, discomfort, constipation, or urgent diarrhea after consuming certain foods, you may benefit from a therapeutic diet.

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